October 5, 2013

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Napoleon Dynamite was the first resident of Preston, Idaho, to realize the tiny town of just more than 5,000 had a crime problem.

“You know, there’s like a butt-load of gangs at this school,” he told his friend Pedro in the 2004 smash hit film “Napoleon Dynamite.”

“This one gang kept wanting me to join,” he said, “because I’m pretty good with a bo-staff,” a long staff used as a weapon in Okinawa and feudal Japan.

Now, nine years later, the movie world of “Napoleon” has come face-to-face with the Preston City Police Department.

That is, Preston Police Chief Ken Geddes a few days ago announced his department’s acquisition of a mine-resistant armor protected vehicle, or an MRAP for short.

“The vehicle comes at no cost to Preston City,” Geddes wrote in an Idaho State Journal column “It is a 2007 model with very low mileage.”

Indeed, the military, which no longer uses the mammoth vehicles following the troop drawdowns in the Middle East after years and years of war, has been handing them out to police agencies across the country. At least four Idaho departments, Boise, Preston, Post Falls and Nampa, received the surplus equipment.

While the military didn’t ask the departments to pay for the MRAPs, which clock in at nearly $500,000 per unit, each agency was required to send officers to a central location for driver training. The agencies were also required to pay the cost of fuel to transport the MRAPs to the various departments.

The MRAPs, checking in at more than 10-feet tall and in excess of 14 tons, were specially designed to handle ambushes by insurgents and withstand landmine explosions. Several federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, use MRAPs in certain operations, including disaster response and bomb situations.

But, the acquisition might lead one to wonder: Why in the world does the Preston Police Department and the other Idaho agencies need such a heavily fortified piece of equipment?
Answer: Gun violence.

Or, at least that how Geddes sees it. He told IdahoReporter.com that he plans to use his department’s MRAP to quell any gun violence in his town. He also said he could use it to evacuate city residents if gun-related situations grow out of control.

Because Preston is something of a little Chicago?

“I hope it is not going to be used,” Geddes said. “Aren’t our people as important as anybody else? Why wouldn’t we be interested in using it?”

When asked, Geddes couldn’t tell IdahoReporter.com how often his officers respond to high-level gun incidents, but he estimated that the rate is equal to anywhere else in the country.

Except it’s not. According to the FBI’s crime statistics, guns are less likely to be used in crimes in Idaho than the rest of the nation.

Boise has a different approach for its MRAP. Williams Bones, a deputy chief, told IdahoReporter.com that his department will utilize the bulky vehicle for hostage, bomb and hazmat situations.

“It’s not going to see a lot of use,” he said.

The vehicle’s likely highest purpose, he said, might be to simply sustain a bomb blast. In the past, the Boise Police Department placed fire engines in between bombs and buildings to shield the structures from a blast. With the MRAP around, Boise won’t have to risk destroying fire engines worth $1.2 million each.

Yet, some critics of the MRAP rollout worry that this is simply another step toward militarized police forces.

“Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing,” wrote Radley Balko, a Huffington Post contributor and author of “Rise of the Warrior Cop.”

“Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units for routine police work,” Balko wrote.

Still, Bones insists that the Boise Police Department has no interest in becoming a paramilitary force. “We are a civilian police force and we intend to stay that way,” he pledged.

Dustin Hurst serves as the Communication Director for the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
He attended college at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene and Boise State University in Boise. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication, with a minor in Political Science.
Before joining the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Dustin worked as a social media coordinator and reporter for Watchdog.org, a nationally recognized good journalism organization. His work there has been featured or recognized by Fox News, Human Events, Reason.com, TownHall.com, Public Sector Inc. HotAir and The Daily Caller, among others.
Former presidential candidate Steve Forbes also tweeted one of Dustin’s stories.
Dustin lives in Boise with his beautiful wife, Julia, and three wonderful kids.
Email: [email protected]

No Comments

TWG
October 6, 2013 at 8:53 AM

This is insanity. We are building a military police force here, with nary a whimper from the peasants. The feds are handing this “candy” out to our town police departments in return for favors and allegiance to the forces that will soon destroy us. People really need to talk with their local county Sheriffs and find out if they intend to honor the Oath they took to defend our Constitution, or if they plan to join today’s SS forces and turn these weapons of mass destruction on the American people. There is NO other reason for them to have such war machines than to turn them on We, The People when the orders are given.

Our mayors and city councils will be responsible for restraining the use of these vehicles and we should hold their feet to the fire. Every Idaho city and county should adopt resolutions restraining the use of these MRAPS for anything but bomb disposal and hostage situations. They should not be seen on our city streets for any other purpose. We are not the Middle East yet.

Skeltons in the closet
October 9, 2013 at 2:46 PM

Geddes is connected politically. His brother is a big wig in Idaho politics and I am sure he arranged to get the truck. Ken worked at the Franklin County Sheriff’s office, that was the most corrupt agency I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. He got the truck to establish that he is the king of the valley and everyone will stand in awe of his power. There is no need for an armored vehicle like that in Preston. It is a joke. It will take money to maintain it, even if it is just used in parade once a year. Knowing the smallness of the man, I would suspect he will not loan it to another agency if the need came up. Ken will need a truck that big to transport his ego. The sad thing is, he will find ways to utilize it and someone may get hurt. To deploy the truck correctly someone needs to be qualified in tactics and legality of use. He will not bother with that, he will just charge ahead and play Patten. This will end badly for Preston.

Idaho open carry
October 10, 2013 at 11:34 AM

There is no need for military equipment by local police or any police force for that matter. Never stop questioning the government. We do not want a militarized police force.

Ken Hunter
October 14, 2013 at 10:46 AM

Sounds like a 100% BS’er.
Incidents the same as anywhere else in the Country?
Equivalent to Chicago, LA, Detroit?

Leland Cantrell
October 14, 2013 at 10:55 PM

This is probably one of Obama’s plan for CONTROL of the public if need be. Nice present, expensive to operate, high cost to keep on the road and no reason for Preston to have one! I am sure there are federal “stings” attached and future. Just think, Take care of this for the government and it will be in place should we ever need it for OUR Federal take over. Leland

DGolightly
November 1, 2013 at 9:52 AM

With sanity in mind, it seems people want to make this a bigger deal than it is. It’s either this… or dismantle tens (read as: hundreds,because it’s probably a lot more accurate) of millions of dollars worth of equipment that was already paid for by taxpayers to fight a pointless war fed by fear and complacency. Really it’s a small drop in a bucket that has hundreds of billions and upwards of a trillion or two spent on it.

@Leland.. That kind of paranoia impedes progress and is hypocritical considering the hero worship exhibited by people sharing your views of Obama for military personnel. If they’re such heroes, they won’t allow such threats (home based threats they took an oath to fight should that need arise) to stand if such threats arise. And if they just follow orders, then Obama did indeed catch Osama and they aren’t heroes by default.

Shawn
February 26, 2014 at 10:32 PM

Do you really think that the government can’t re-use these vehicles? Do we not have deployed troops that could benefit from them? It seems somewhat suspicious that these perfectly serviceable vehicles are being “donated” to our local law enforcement in area where they are not needed. Post Falls, Id…really? How many terrorist attacks do they have, anyway? The answer…none. I live in this area and they have no need for this type of vehicle.